Are you a frugal Christian?

I tend to be frugal. I learned this from my mother, who uses the flat side of a table knife to scrape out the last of the tooth paste, and cuts the top off lotion bottles to swipe remnants of lotion from inside.

My dad cans every last tomato in his garden, even though he has already canned 900 zillion quarts. Waste not, want not.

My habits lean more toward never throwing out left-overs no matter how many times we have eaten on them. Never do twice what I can do once, and my favorite, eat all the scraps of Oreos in the carton rather than tossing them out.

However, it seems frugality does not always follow into my Christian life. I squander time on useless activities that could be spent for God’s work. I forget to send cards that would cheer someone’s day; I almost never visit my neighbor who is terminally ill. I spend those spare minutes staring into space or worse (groan) staring at the TV screen instead of reaching for my bible.

If I could only become as frugal with my time as I am with left-overs, the world would be a better place!

Are you frugal? Do you make the most of what God has given you, and does that include your time? Make a vow today to use some of those minutes spent in unimportant activities for something good. And I will too!

Regina